You owe me
by stripped to the bones
Summary: He asked. She agreed. Spoilers for this season premier. Rated T to be on the safe, very safe side.
1. Chapter 1

Hi! This story is the only one I managed to finish lately, so I decided -obviously- to publish it.

It's based purely on one phrase Brennan said during the season premier.

It's not much, it's not really very exciting, it's not well written and it hasn't been proof-read, so grammar and spelling mistakes are highly possible. Last, but not least, one may say Booth is slightly out of character (LOL, I love when people say that and Booth ends up dressed as a Geisha singing Roxettes' _Spending my time_ in a public library out of his own volition, meaning not undercover).  
I'm giving you fair warning, you read at your own risk. I would still love it if you did, though.

Disclaimer: Bones is not mine. Neither is Booth, which I deeply resent.

* * *

She sipped her beer. It was cold and fresh, a little bitter as any good beer should. However, the taste went unnoticed. She had spent a few minutes now sitting in the darkness of her livingroom. Her eyes were open but out of focus. Her attention was undivided, concentrated on her thought alone.

It might have been that he just asked. He almost never asked for anything. Most of the time, she imposed on him. Whitout any external sign of of her own rectification, she told herself that it wasn't quite imposing. She simply made sure to be there when she thought he might need company. Which was something she had learned from him.

Anyway, this time, it was because he asked. He looked at her and plainly asked. And it wasn't that she was powerless to resist his requests. Truth was, she really did want to fulfil them. She liked to help. She liked to know that things could be better if she just did what he asked her to do. It didn't matter if it was standing in second line when he got his certification or trying Sundays instead of drinks after a case.

It was, she concluded, purely because he asked and she liked to help. It was not a big deal. It was just the way things were. The way they were. She sipped her beer. It was the kind of thing that made them _them_.

So when he asked, she agreed. In the middle of the sidewalk, at equal distance from their cars, she agreed. Because she wanted to help.

_______________

"Hey, Bones?" He called after she had taken only one step away from him.

She turned, not really surprised. It was something she was used to. He called her and then made a final joke as they went separate ways. She waited for it, giving him no verbal reply.

"Would yo do me a favor?" He asked after some hesitation, his hands buried deep in his pockets.

She frowned a little, trying to decipher if he was serious or the joke was coming shortly "Sure"

Booth's head tilted to the left and his shoulders raised "It's not really a favor... it's something you owe me"

He seemed a little bashful, she realized, which didn't fit his nature. She pondered what she could owe him, but nothing came to mind. "Ok..."

He looked away, to the street, and his gaze followed a car that passed by "You owe me a kiss" He said, only looking at her once the phrase was out.

Her jaw dropped just a millimeter or two, but her eyes remained motionless. She had learned that it was best not to look too shocked when he said things like that. If she let the surprise show on her face, he would say something in the line of _in an atta-girl kind of way_. "A kiss? I owe you a kiss?" She managed to voice in a very steady tone.

"Yes" Was the quick and assertive answer he gave.

Brennan could only think of the Museum, the Egyptian Exhibit and the situation that _hadn't_ involved a kiss.

His expression was starting to change into one of those she had trouble reading and she tought he might say _forget it_.

He didn't say that. Instead, Booth clarified "You offered to kiss my forehead"

She relaxed and smiled, which relaxed him too. She remembered, she had offered him a kiss. She nodded and her lips tugged to the right.

"You're right, I do owe you" She said. She was not quite sure he meant it as a banter anymore, but if he did, he was waiting for her to either dismiss him or take him up on it. She decided to raise the bet, though he didn't bet anymore, because the kissing-on-different-parts-of-the-face thing reminded her of Caroline. It was harmless and humorous "Do you want me to kiss your nose too?"

Booth's eyebrows shot up "Sure" He replied faster than before.

The crooked smile was still on her face as she pondered. It was probably a banter, but he was, or at least had been for the past half hour, a little bit down, therefor it was also possible that he needed comfort. Either way, a couple of kisses were the least she could do. Because A) he asked –which was enough-, B) she liked to help - either by humoring him or actually comforting- and C) he always humored her when she was capricious.

And without much further ado, she took a step forward. Regardless her high heels, she had to stand on the tip of her toes and, to steady herself, she placed both hands on his shoulders. He bowed his head and she lifted hers. She saw him close his eyes, but she kept hers open. Her lips were a little tense because she couldn't stop smiling and she made an effort to actually shape them into a kiss and let them softly touch his forehead.

It wasn't that she didn't expect to feel tingly. She was aware of her reactions to physical contact with Booth. She just wasn't expecting it to be so strong.

She had to refocus, take her mind away from her body's signals and move down to his nose. She hadn't stopped smiling, but now it was a coy half smile, much harder to keep under control than a regular smile. She managed once again, and her lips formed a kiss that rested on the bridge of his nose. Perhaps for an extra millisecond. Perhaps because the tingling spreading from her lower back to her belly had distracted her.

It was only a millisecond, nothing that she couldn't cover up. Nothing that didn't fall into their usual interaction. They were always standing a little too close, talking a little to low, staring a little too much. She had learned to live with the tingle all those things provoked , to let the awkward moments afterwords pass and die down.

So she simply brought her head back to its natural position, let her arms fall, shifted her jaw to the right to minimize the shy grin that crept onto her face, kept her body still through the shivers and directed him a brightly eyed look.

"Debt sealed?" She asked, keeping the atmosphere light.

He smiled at her, with his eyes narrowed and his forehead a little wrinkled. It was the kind of expression she never quite understood.

_Then_ it happened. Then _he_ leaned forward and kissed _her_. On the lips. He closed his lips on hers, delicately. Without any warning. He just did it. It was a nothing of a kiss, not one second long, not sexy, simply his lips on hers. And he backed away, gave her his most charming grin, beaming eyes included, and walked away. To his car. No word was spoken. He simply drove away.

She was left on the middle of the sidewalk. Like a dear caught in the headlights. Jaw dropped, eyes rounded, arms dead at her sides. She could not move, nor speak, nor do anything. She was there, alone and with an overload of things, feelings, thoughts she could not name, label or comprehend.

She in that state, on the same spot for... she couldn't say how long. At one point she was able to leave. To get into her car and drive home.

_________________

She sipped her beer. It had happened. That was the sequence of events. Because he asked and she agreed. Now she was stunned, with the bottle in her hand and those... sensations. Her stomach flattened and rolled onto itself and electricity all over. Her arms, her toes, her face, her back, her thighs, her fingers, her neck. In her chest, on her chest, in her belly. All over.

And for the life of hers, she could not think of a reason other than... he had asked and she had agreed.

But then he had acted, without asking.

Had she been Cam, she would have kissed back. Had she been Angela, she would have wrapped her arms around him and sucked the life out of him. But, she told herself, she was _Brennan_.

If he had pushed her against the wall and then kissed her, she would have know how to react. Plain arousal was something she could handle, it had to do with instincts and instincts alone.

But Booth's twinkling eyes, charming smile and soft lips, god, his soft lips.... the undying electricity that rushed through her and made her aware of every single cell of her body, every square inch of her skin, every organ, every everything.... they were something different.

Her head finally moved and she blinked.

_It was something different_.

It _was_ something different. It was not one of those things that made them _them_. She frowned. It was something else. He hadn't punched her shoulder, made a joke or any of the things she thought he should have done if he didn't mean...

As the beer warmed up and with her pupils completely dilated –due to the darkness that surrounded her, of course-, Brennan realized that Booth had kissed her. In a non partner-like, nor friend-like, not even them-like manner.

* * *

That's it. I hope you liked it. Let me know either way, OK? Otherwise, curiosity kills me. I prefer knowledge to uncertainty.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello. It has been a while since I posted the first chapter of this story. The reason is that I wasn't even sure it was going to continue. But since I wrote it, here it is.

Once again, it was not proof-read, so sorry about that.

I suck at writing Booth (not that I'm that great at Brennan either), but I hope this is not too bad.

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones, nor do I own anything related to it. But my birthday was this week, so if anyone wants to give me a present I wouldn't oppose.

* * *

Booth walked into his place with a confident stride and headed straight to the kitchen. He grabbed a beer, twisted the cap, tossed it into the trash can and went to the living room. He sat on the couch, in the pitch dark room, with a wide stupid grin plastered on his face. He sipped his beer. It was cold and fresh, a little bitter, as any good beer should be. He savoured it.

It might have been because she agreed. Because when he asked she agreed. Or maybe just because she was Bones.

Maybe, he sipped his beer, it was because he was Booth. He was Booth and, at some level he knew –or at least hoped- that was enough for her to say yes.

The idea had been hovering him since the day she had made the offer. OK, she hadn't meant it and he had felt a little exposed when he closed his eyes and she just chuckled and walked away.

While having drinks with her tonight the idea came back and, like a woodpecker, it had tapped his brain vehemently. Just as always, he wondered if he should do it and when. Would it be best to do it in the safety of a room full of strangers? Should he do it when they were alone? His place? Her place? Why was he thinking about either of their places since it was just one little innocent request?

She hadn't meant it, he knew it. Of course she hadn't, she was mocking him. Booth smiled and sipped his beer. God! She and Angela could be mean High School queens sometimes, all girly and pretty and perky, making him suffer with their flirting. Well, Angela didn't make him suffer. She didn't stand a chance, he knew it, she knew it. She didn't want a chance, she knew it, he knew it. Angela was just the BFF. The one that simply played along the evil and somewhat innocent game the queen lead.

Queen bee, he thought and sipped again. Like one, she had every male willing and ready to mate with her. Unlike one, she didn't let them. As far as he could tell, she hadn't dated for at least a year.

But that was side-tracking. Tonight, as they said their good-byes, he realized that there was no point on waiting for the perfect moment because, with them, there was never, ever, ever a perfect moment. They lacked perfection in that area, he thought as he sipped nis beer. They were perfect by any other parameter, but timing was not their thing.

So that moment was as good as any, right? As good and as bad as any. As perfect and wrong as any. Yes, he thought as he tasted his beer, it had been right to ask.

* * *

"Hey, Bones?" He called after she had taken only one step away after saying good-bye.

She turned, which didn't surprise him, she always did unless she was mad at him or simply too focused in evidence.

Since she wasn't asking the expected _what?_he hesitated, but he decided to man up "Would yo do me a favor?" He asked, his hands buried deep in his pockets.

She frowned a little and he realized she was doubtful for some reason "Sure"

"It's not really a favor... it's something that you owe me" He said tilting his head. Maybe that would make it more difficult for her to decline. God, coming to the point of wanting to make it hard for her to decline was utterly pathetic and shameful. But she had offered, after all.

Bones looked a little at loss. Probably trying to remember what she had borrowed, he thought "Ok..." She said not without a certain amount of reluctance in her voice.

He looked away, to the street, and concentrated on a car that was passing by. Should he let the moment pass by too? Or should he just grow a freakin' set? He made up his mind "You owe me a kiss" There was his set. Not too grown, though, since he didn't look at her until the phrase was out there.

He didn't see her jaw drop just a millimeter or two. In fact, her face revealed nothing, he could read nothing.

"A kiss? I owe you a kiss?" She asked in an even tone.

"Yes" He replied quickly and assertively, even when he was starting to freak out. Something was running through her mind, he could see it, and perhaps she didn't remember. Of course she didn't remember, why would she remember? It had been a joke, she was mocking him.

"You offered me a kiss on the forehead" Booth clarified, dreading the awkwardness of the moment and feeling like a little girl.

But then some angel decided to be on his side and she relaxed and smiled. "You're right, I do owe you" She said. In fact, there was something else on her expression, some sort of humorous tint right before she asked "Do you want me to kiss your nose too?"

Now that was a shock and he was unable to stop his eyebrows from shooting up. But he bounced right back and realized that if he didn't reply fast he would have no other option than to chuckle and let both kisses not happen "Sure"

The crooked smile that was still on her face told him she was pondering. He did not know if that was good or bad. She might just do it, or simply laugh and walk away as she had done the first time.

But then she took a step forward. He bowed his head, not only so she could reach his forehead, but as a prayer to the powers that be to let it really happen. As he saw her lift her head, the smile still there and her eyes beaming, he closed his eyes.

The touch was soft and so completely heart shattering. Bones was kissing him tenderly. The few times she had kissed him had been different, rushed.

The fact that he could feel the faint smile still lingering on the lips that were kissing him made his confidence grow stronger somehow. Bones' lips were on his forehead, he had asked and she had agreed and now her lips were on his forehead, and her smell was all over and her body so close and he was just overwhelmed by it all

And her lips weren't there anymore. He had half expected that she would just slide down. She wouldn't, he knew that, and she hadn't. In fact, her lips were nowhere for a longer time than needed to go from point A to point B.

He would have freaked out, he would have opened his eyes and maybe even ask the Lord to vanish him into thin air, had he thought she was going to stop. But he could still feel her breathing on his face. He could still smell her. Even with his eyes closed, he was pretty sure she was still smiling. For some reason he didn't even care to specify, it boosted his confidence.

When he felt her rest her kiss on the bridge of his nose, he noticed that, though the contact was still tender, she was adding little more pressure. He felt as if his skin was separating from his flesh, inflated like a balloon, and a rush of electricity cruised through his every cell.

In the instant her lips left his nose, he was certain of a few things. A) She was still smiling, but the smile was different, maybe bashful, B) this was affecting her even if a tiny bit, C) she had taken a deep and inaudible breath in when she broke the contact –he wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't felt the air right by his nostril suddenly disappear- and D) the second kiss had lasted just a tad too long.

It was only a millisecond, nothing that she couldn't cover up, he thought. Nothing that didn't fall into their usual interaction, he told himself. They were always standing a little too close, talking a little too low, staring a little too much. And yet, it wasn't quite the same. It was not the same.

He opened his eyes so quickly that he was able to see her bring her head back to its natural position and shift her jaw to the right, a poor attempt distract his attention from her pinked cheeks he realized. She was so real, so very Bones in that second.

"Debt sealed?" She asked, keeping the atmosphere light.

So very Bones, so incredible heart melting, earth shattering, breath taking Bones. It was so close, it seemed so achievable. It was in the line of what he had asked and she had agreed to do. He smiled to her, narrowing his eyes, could he say the debt was not sealed? It was, she had complied. It was unfair to ask her for more.

She was looking at him and he knew she was intrigued by his silence. Was that good? Was that bad? It didn't really matter because, again, this was just as good time as any, as bad time as any. And, to be honest, he really, really wanted it.

And perhaps for the first time, he couldn't care less about her reaction. This was for him. She could hate him if she wanted, though he suspected she wouldn't. And that suspicion busted his confidence even more.

So he did it. He leaned forward and kissed her. On the lips. He delicately closed her lips on hers. He just did it. It was a nothing of a kiss, not one second long, not sexy, simply his lips on hers. And he backed away. Her jaw dropped, her eyes rounded and her arms were dead on her sides. She had never looked more adorable, beautiful or mesmerizing. He couldn't keep his most charming grin from appearing and he simply walked away, got into his car and went home.

* * *

He sipped his beer. It had happened. That was the sequence of events. It had been right to ask. And it had been right to kiss her. And it had been right to leave. Even when what he really wanted after touching her lips with his was to push her against the nearest wall and... well, he blushed even when enveloped by darkness, do some more kissing, some licking, some tasting and some pressing, some touching. He could have done it, it would have been easy, she probably wouldn't have offered resistance and it would have been fun. Hell, he smiled, it would have been great.

It would have been wrong, he told himself. It would have been wrong because she was Bones. She liked being slammed against walls, _at least by me_was his afterthought and he smirked at the memory. Being pushed against walls by him was something that made her breathing shallow and her smile a little wicked. And, being Bones, she probably would have find the way to transform everything in a matter of pure and unadulterated physical attraction. That scared the crap out of him.

Oh, it was good that he had left right when he did. If he stared at her dear caught in the headlights face all of his confidence would have crumbled and he would have done something stupid. Something like taking it back.

The smug smile faded away as he thought about it. Ok, so he didn't want to take it back... he could be ok with pretending it was just a thank you for agreeing... but he did not know what he would do if _she_ wanted to take it back. It's stupid, he thought as he drank. She could not take it back because she had done nothing. But with Bones one never knew.

With Bones... with Bones there was not telling if she was going to even realize he had _kissed_ her. He had stepped out of their dynamic, their safe little touches, the safe gazing and whispering and the doing things for each other just because they asked. It might have been small, it might have been just closing his lips on hers, but it was different. It wasn't as much as he had meant it to be... anything, it was just something that he couldn't avoid doing. Because, if nothing else, he wanted at least to know how it felt.

Because everything up to that point had felt amazing and freaking perfect. And the final kiss had sent fire through his body and it had made him believe his was the biggest, strongest, luckiest man on Earth.

Well, he thought, it was also possible that, subconsciously, he had kissed her to assure her he loved her. Not in an _atta girl kind of way_, but in a _love like you told me you wish you could believe existed _kind of way.

He killed his beer and left the empty bottle on the coffee table. Maybe he should call her. Just to see... just to see what? Maybe he should just hit the sack and wait for her reaction. Maybe she wouldn't react at all. Maybe he should come up with something to explain his behaviour. Maybe he should cover all his basis and prepare both an honest speech and a chicken shit one in case she was mad. He shook his head. Maybe he should stop being a 7th grade scared little girl.

Feeling proud and insecure, he went to bed.

* * *

That's all I have so far. If anyone wants it to continue and has any idea on how, their comments are more than welcome. If not, that's ok.  
Loved it, hated it, middly liked it, not even so, thought it's crap? Please, let me know. I like recieving e-mails.


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